KTM RC390 Test Ride Review

• Dec 12, 2014
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KTM, for the masses this name appears as the name of an Austrian motorcycle brand. For me KTM stands for Kamaal Tez-tarrar Motorcycle. Since the day one KTM offerings were the most desired, brute, and the powerful motorcycles in their respective segments. The Duke 200 was criticized by the mass for that raw exhaust note, but that perception soon got changed just after they got to experience the bike all in its glory. The Duke 390 launch was the most complimented event for the Indian riders who were willing to buy a sub 50 bhp motorcycle, but they were running out of funds.

We Indians do get magnetized towards the full-faired bikes. There might be many reasons behind this, the foremost is the road presence. Since, not many Indian riders love owning a naked bike.

KTM knew, that coming up with the faired siblings of the Dukes will lead to a steep incline in their sales graph. The KTM RC twins then landed onto the Indian shores and their presence was appreciated by the KTM fans. The bike was tested under every condition for every niche and glitch. So here is BikesIndia’s take over the RC390.

Styling:

KTM is always conscious about the brute styling they are known for. The bike looks raw in every background you throw her in. With its cowl like rear seat adds to a true sportbike feel. The Moto-3 inspired clip-on handle-bars are the equipment that were the most demanded. From the front, the bike looks raw and doesn’t lose on to the style quotient any way. The beak might not to be everyone’s taste but, serves to make the bike stand out of the crowd. Indian Motor Vehicle Act does not allow 2-wheelers without rear seat grab-rails, so that grab-rail was an after-thought but still its well-sculpted. The projector headlamps with those awe-struck DRLs will hypnotize you for sure. The OVRM mounted turn-signals are segment first. The wind-shield up-front is a single piece unit to the side fairing panels but it has a tendency of dirt clogging, moreover it is really tough to clean that up. The rear tail lamp comprises of 3 bright red LED lines, turning that rear to be much hotter. Underneath the rear seat you have a pair of carvings on both sides of the tail-lamps, hinting towards the grab-rails for the international market. There is even a saare guard and a rear tyre hugger on this “sports” bike. The rear license plate holder is all plastic molding from the top, while supported from a metal road below. The under belly of the RC390 seems little low for the speed breakers as I encountered a few scrapes while crossing them. The panel gaps at most place are equal and even but, somewhere they rattle a lot. The fuel tank looks best, when its stuck between your thighs. Orange trellis frame and alloy-wheels screams out, that this is a KTM product. The ultra wide but thin mirrors, give you panoramic glance of the road, but it isn’t easy to get used to with them. This time the under-belly exhaust is spotted hiding itself inside the fairing. The rear foot-pegs are not welded to the frame, so they can be easily un-screwed to reduce the bike’s weight. The overall looks are sharp and might not be to everyone’s taste. The bike heads in terms of design and style, acquiring a thumbs-up from me. Performance:

The RC390 uses a 373.2cc single cylinder, liquid-cooled engine producing 44Ps of power and 35Nm of torque. The engine comes mated to a 6-speed gearbox. Tipping the scale at 147kgs, it translates to a power to weight ratio of 0.299Ps/kg and a torque to weight ratio of 0.23Nm/kg, the fiqures are a bit lesser than the Duke 390’s due to the additional weight of the fairing. You need to pay only Rs.5022 per Ps of power when the on-road price in Delhi is taken to be 2,21,000 INR. The engine has got some serious amount of grunt, the mid-range is strong. You really get to experience a push from the bike at 5000 Rpm mark. The bottom-end too will surprise you with the thrust it generates. Riding is a serious fun, as it won’t require much gear-shifts due to those 44ps. The clutch is hard in comparison to the Ninja 300. The power-delivery is not at all linear, it is abrupt and brisk.

The top-end speed is where the RC really comes into play. It clocks 0-100kmph within 5 seconds, but my 0-100kmph was clocked within the blink of an eye. The motor is a pine-apple, it has its very own niche and glitch. It’s the most-powerful in its segment, but at the same time it has got vibrations at idle and around 4k-5k rpm mark. Those vibrations were not to my taste, I could feel them at the handle-bars and at the foot-pegs too. The reason behind the vibrations is its being only a single cylinder engine churning out some 44 horses.

The bike tops-out at 178kmph. The exhaust note is what I loved the most! The engine is really good in terms of power it delivers, being a single-cylinder and when seeing the overall cost of the bike, while it does have its flaws on its very own claws. Instrument cluster:

The clocks and the switchgears are a direct lift from the Duke. The switchgears' overall quality is good, and they work to their extent supremely well. You have the best instrument console in this segment, it’s digital backlit LCD screen is legible in all daytime light. The clock comes loaded with various indicators. You get a Odometer, Trip-meters, Fuel-gauge, Speedometer, Clock, Gear-indicator, Tachometer, Temperature gauge, Service-due indicator and a Side-stand indicator on the LCD display. While, there are some LED lights too which indicate you about the high-beam, turn-indicators, ABS on/off, gear-shift indicator, neutral gear and much more. Coming with all bells and whistles the LCD is little dim and it is hard to read out the digits in broad day light. The switch gears are all white LED backlit and are robust in feel and provide you everything under control of your thumb. Ride & Brakes:

The overall riding dynamics of the RC390 is great and offers you a planted ride. With the increased steering rake angle and seat-height there’s a decrease in the wheel-base in comparison to Duke. The aforementioned changes, translates to a sharper handling. The high-seat and the low-slung Moto-3 inspired clip-ons will give you an indulging riding posture, however, it is not the seating position you’d love to be in for a long ride. The suspension set-up is on a stiffer side, the thin-padded seat adds in the dis-comfort. The ergonomics are track-oriented, while you'd love the handling on the road equally if you wont get a chance to throw the bike at the corner of the track. The Metzeler tyres are the real deal, they offer superior grip in all sorts of riding conditions. The bike comes with ABS as a standard fitment with the 300mm disc brake up-front and a 230mm one at the rear. The four pot calipers at front and the single pot at rear, does their duty fairly well. The bike stops with the same ease, it accelerates. verdict:

The bike is a real gem, on the price it offers the performance we Indians have always been desiring for. There are few things which adds up towards a negativity, like; There are vibrations, riding posture is not to everyone’s taste and the fuel tank is only 9 litres. Finally I'd like to wrap it up by saying that if you want these 44Ps and have got budget of Rs 2.5 lacs, love a super-sport style riding posture, want the razor sharp handling and dynamics and can easily compromise on that puny fuel tank and very little but noticeable rattles and vibrations, then it is the bike for you to take home.

Moreover, soon we will be presenting a real long term review of the RC390 testing the touring capability of the bike. Stay tuned to BikesIndia.

Credits & Courtesies:

Motorcycles Courtesy:
KTM Moti Nagar, New Delhi
Central Mysore KTM, Mysore

Lastly, we would like to thank Mr Madhu & Mr Kailash from Central Mysore KTM and Mr Neeraj from KTM Moti Nagar, Bagga Link, N Delhi, who helped us a lot in arranging the bikes for the Test Ride and shoot.